As the investigation into the brazen heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris entered its 16th day on Monday, authorities said the whereabouts of the stolen jewelry remains a mystery even though four suspects have been charged in the case.
Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a radio interview Sunday that three of the suspects have so far been linked to the Louvre robbery through DNA and insisted that detectives have not exhausted all the leads that have come in since the investigation began.
“All leads are being explored,” Beccuau told Franceinfo radio of efforts to recover the jewels.
A soldier patrols in the courtyard of the Louvre museum, Thursday, October 30, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Emma Da Silva/AP
Beccuau added that the arrests made as part of the Louvre investigation “led to new searches and the seizure of new objects that are being examined.”
“We are following leads that, for the moment, have not been exhausted at all,” Beccuau said.
Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau, pictured March 3, 2025, is leading the investigation into the brazen October 19, 2025 jewelry theft at the Louvre Museum.
Thomas Samson/AFP via Getty Images
Beccuau said one suspect who played an active role in the robbery remains at large, while three others have been charged with organized robbery and conspiracy to commit organized robbery.
Where are the missing jewels?
The prosecutor said investigators have not given up on recovering the $102 million in jewelry.
$102 million worth of jewels stolen from Louvre
Louvre Museum
“We are examining all aspects of the parallel market,” Beccau said.
But Christopher Marinello, executive director of Art Recovery International, a private company that specializes in locating looted works of art, told ABC News that he fears the jewelry has already been dismantled.
“As we have said since the beginning of this theft, if the jewelry is not recovered within the first 48 hours, it will most likely be broken into smaller jewelry and gems and sold on the market,” Marinello said.
When asked if there is any way to identify the thousands of individual diamonds, emeralds and sapphires that make up each of the eight missing pieces, Marinello said: “Many of the smaller stones are virtually impossible to trace back to this collection.”
“Only the largest stones could be attributed to this, but unfortunately, those are the stones that they wanted to break as quickly as possible,” Marinello said.
What is known about the suspects
Marinello told ABC News that the key to finding the stolen jewelry depends largely on questioning the suspects.
“I’m talking about a Dirty Harry interrogation,” Marinello said. “If you ask them nicely, they won’t tell you where they are or who their compatriots are.”
Suspects charged in Louvre case
Paris Prosecutor, Adobe
During Sunday’s interview with Franceinfo radio, Beccuau said the suspects do not appear to be masterminds of the international crime.
“This is not everyday crime… but it is a type of crime that we generally do not associate with the upper echelons of organized crime,” Beccuau said.
Beccuau said the suspects charged so far appear to be petty criminals and manual workers from the northern suburbs of Paris.
An infographic of the Louvre Museum robbery.
Anadolu via Getty Images
A 39-year-old taxi driver and a 34-year-old unemployed former garbage collector were the first suspects arrested in the case.
Beccuau said both men are suspected of being the two thieves who used a truck-mounted mechanical crane to reach the Louvre’s second floor and break into the museum’s Apollo Gallery using power tools.
The Apollo Gallery has remained closed since the robbery, according to the Louvre website. It is unclear when it will reopen.
Beccuau said investigators have not recovered any evidence “of the existence of complicity” with someone who worked inside the Louvre.
The suspect, 34, was arrested Oct. 25 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to board a flight to Algeria on a one-way ticket, authorities said. Beccuau said the suspect’s DNA was recovered from one of the scooters used in the getaway.
Beccuau said the 39-year-old suspect had previously been arrested for aggravated robberies in 2008 and 2014 and that his DNA was found on a window at the Louvre.
Beccuau said the two suspects “partially admitted their involvement” in the Louvre heist to investigators, but did not provide further details.
On October 29, five more people were arrested during raids in the Seine-Saint-Denis region, north of Paris, in connection with the Louvre heist. Three of the five people arrested were later released without charge.
But one of the people detained in the Sein-Saint-Denis raids was described as a person of interest because his DNA was found at the crime scene, authorities said.
While the names of the suspects have not been made public, authorities announced on Saturday the arrest of a 37-year-old man and his common-law partner, 38, both from Seine-Saint-Denis.
Beccuau said the 37-year-old suspect’s DNA was recovered from the mechanical crane used in the robbery. He also said the suspect’s criminal record shows he has 11 previous convictions, 10 for robbery, including one he committed in 2015 with the 39-year-old suspect in custody.
The 37-year-old man and his common-law partner, who have children together, were charged with organized robbery and conspiracy to commit organized robbery. The couple has denied involvement in the Louvre robbery, Beccuau said.
Beccuau said “at least one person” who actively participated in the robbery remains at large.
